$40 million cleared to fund prenatal care

State health plan gets $40 million

Federal officials Wednesday approved a state health plan that has provided prenatal care to low-income women, clearing the way for an additional $40 million a year in federal funding.

The decision means the Illinois program, which has been serving 70,000 women a year, will be able to offer coverage to an additional 41,000, said Mike Claffey, spokesperson for Illinois Department of Public Aid.

Claffey said the federal approval will allow the State Children's Health Insurance Program to cover pregnant immigrant women who do not qualify for Medicaid.

Families with incomes of up to $17,960 per year will also be eligible to enroll in the plan. Pregnant women enrolled in the Illinois plan will continue for 12 months after the child is born.

"This is exciting," Barry Maram, director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, said. "These services result in thousands of healthy births and give thousands of children a healthy start in life."

Blanca Leon, of the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition, said the federal funds will provide a new option for pregnant women who previously had to find other sources of money for health care.

"There's a lot of pregnant women who borrow money from family to help them pay for full-cash prenatal visits," she said. "And they must pay a portion of their labor upfront."

Renee Shutay, director of Services for Community Alternative Unlimited, which serves 2,500 low-income families, said prenatal care is essential in preventing infant mortality. Without prenatal care, pregnant women are at risk and may cost the state millions of dollars if a child is born with health problems, she said.

"This is a way to get [health care for] people who can't afford it," Shutay said. "If more women can get in this program, it will make them healthy, their child healthy and the state economy healthy."